


Working Late

by ImaRavenclaw



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Auror Harry Potter, Dark Mark, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Not Epilogue Compliant, Office, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Post-War, Rebuilding, Romance, Roommates, Sectumsempra Scars, The Ministry of Magic - Freeform, Working Late, working
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:48:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24047695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImaRavenclaw/pseuds/ImaRavenclaw
Summary: Upsurges of panic, they're both surrounded by excruciation. But even when memories of war resurface, they always have the comfort of the other's arms.First entry for the Make maraudertimes Swoon Challenge.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 74





	Working Late

**Author's Note:**

> Bro, this was just supposed to be a slightly smutty desk sex fic and it just ended up taking such a dark turn. WTF?

A rough knock on his door woke him. Abruptly, Harry shot up and began to organize the papers strewn all across his desk even though he knew that there was no point; everyone knew that his work area was always a mess. He couldn’t believe that he’d fallen asleep trying to finish the report. Thinking it was still eight, he looked at his watch just to be sure. 

_12:24_

“Bloody hell!” Harry whisper-shouted to himself. He had promised to be home by ten. He wasn’t particularly excited to deal with the lecture he would receive. Harry’s friends and family had told him many times that he shouldn’t overwork. Another knock. The first one was so unexpected that Harry wrote it off as just another late night office growl. _How is anyone still here?_

He took his wand out just in case. “Come in!” He said to the knocker weakly. His throat was so dry. As the door opened he reached for his glass and took a gulp of water, wand still pointing at the entry. It was dark in the office and Harry couldn’t quite make out who the person was at first, but then the figure moved into the small patch of light 

The man in front of him was smirking widely. He ran a hand through his blonde hair and approached the desk. Harry had turned around in his office chair and was now facing the large empty space of his office. 

“Shit,” he groaned as Draco Malfoy put a hand on his knee. He looked around the room, looking for a chair to sit in even though he knew there wouldn’t be one. 

“Still no chairs in this crap hole I see,” Draco said, gaze settling back on Harry. “Only one place to sit I guess.” Any one who didn’t know him would have predicted that he would plop himself down on the hardwood floor and sit legs crossed, looking up at the Senior Auror. Harry knew better than to think Draco would sacrifice his seven hundred galleon tailored pants to the dusty floor. Hundreds of wizards walked across it each day. 

“No. That’s what the conference room is for.” Draco smirked at this. He ignored the floor in favour of taking a seat on Harry’s lap. Harry spread his legs a little to give him space and kept him stable on the chair by putting his hands on Draco’s sharp hips. “What are you doing here?” Harry asked. His voice was quiet now that his nerves had calmed. Of course he should have realized that Draco would eventually come to fetch him if he didn’t come home on time. 

“I came to get you. I woke up and you hadn’t come to bed yet. Then you weren’t in the flat.” Harry had been avoiding home a lot lately. Ron had expressed concern to Draco a few months previous. He was incredibly reluctant to have Draco move in with them but he was prepared to do what he thought best for Harry. He’d had nightmares and debilitating anxiety almost since Ron could remember, but it got worse after the war. Then, miraculously, Harry was fine for a while. He was rising up in his ranks at work and was pushing himself. Ron was happy to sleep without being woken up by yelling of course, but it was also good to see Harry recover. But right around Harry’s 29th birthday, just as things had seemed to be at their best, the midnight shouting started again. 

“Things are busy right now, Draco.” Harry sighed, Draco could feel it against his dress shirt covered back. “I have six reports to look over before next week.” 

Draco turned his body slightly so he could look at his boyfriend. “Can I please take you home.” Another sigh and then a face buried in his shoulder. Draco felt a soft pair of lips press against his neck and he sighed too, but his was one of pleasure. He turned around and brought Harry’s lips to his. Harry made an appreciate noise and tugged Draco closer. They kissed for a brief moment before Harry gave Draco a nudge to indicate he wanted him to get up. He listened and stood. 

“Okay. I never meant to be here so long anyway.” 

Draco gave him a small smile and took his hand. Together, they left the office and went down the hall. Somewhere along the way to the elevator bank Harry had let go of Draco’s hand. They got to them and boarded the only elevator that operated after hours. 

Harry always hated leaving the Ministry after hours. The offices themselves weren’t particularly horrid to occupy or exit alone. It was when one got to the atrium that they became uncomfortable. Or maybe it was just Harry, because when he turned to look at Draco’s face the expression he wore was not one of dread. 

They hadn’t even gotten to the ground floor and the familiar tug in Harry’s stomach returned. This happened every night when everyone had left before him. 

_Ding!_ The familiar sound of the new elevator telling them they’d reached their destination. The doors slid apart and the men stepped into the vast black tiled space. Immediately, Harry began to shake. Draco noticed almost as quickly as the shivering had started. He knew what Harry was seeing. All of the late night tears and hushed horrors had made Draco see the violent wand flashes and scowling eyes just as well as the man next to him. He took Harry’s hand again and gave it a tight squeeze.

Sometimes Harry was fine. His inner state was one of calm and his memories were far away. But the dam holding them back was precariously built. It was anyone’s guess when all the thoughts would spill out and drown him. At the end of the normal work day it was fine. The bustle of people cheerful to head home; the small interns trying to flog the unsold editions of the Daily Prophet; the Ministry couples coming from separate departments and running to each other; of course Harry wouldn’t think of the past. It was easier to be in the moment at five fifteen. But when the darkness fell and he ended up in the atrium, walking to the fireplaces, it all came rushing back.

The night his Godfather died. Finding Slytherin’s locket. Flashes of wand light: red, green, bright white. 

It was painful for Draco to see the man he loved like this. 

As they walked through the atrium, pace faster with each step, Harry’s panic upsurged. Draco wrapped his arms around him and guided him. As they moved, he leaned close to whisper in his ear. “You’re safe. I’m here.” Draco told him. He held Harry tighter and he could feel him start to breathe deeper. “I’m here,” he said again, softer. By the time they arrived at the fireplaces, Harry was able to look up again. He gave Draco’s hand a squeeze before grabbing a pinch of floo powder and going home. Draco stepped in as soon as he’d disappeared. 

Harry was waiting next to the mantelpiece. As soon as Draco stepped into their living room Harry grabbed him and drew him close. The taller man wrapped his arms around the shorter one and lifted his hand to stroke his dark curls. 

“I’m sorry,” Harry sniffed. He pulled back and looked up at Draco, who shook his head in response. He didn’t have anything to be sorry for. Draco understood the feeling. He felt lucky that he was not struggling as much as Harry, but even so, sometimes memories came back to him too. Draco pushed the thought of Harry wrapping the bleeding skin around his dark mark out of his head. 

“You can’t do this Draco,” he remembered him saying. “I know you want to get rid of it, but until we can figure out how to it without hurting you, you just need to accept it.” Harry had wiped his tears away with a gentle thumb. “And I kind of like it.”

Draco had scoffed. “Like it?” He had said, averting his eyes from the blood left in the sink. 

“I hate how it makes you feel. But it reminds me of how brave you were. It was a long road to who you are now, but you never turned back.” 

Harry tugged him towards their room and Draco shoved the memory back where it belonged. He couldn’t think about the times Harry had supported him now. It was his turn to help Harry.

The two of them took off everything off but their pants. White scars, welts, burns. Gazes forced towards the windows. Anything to avoid seeing the hurt that had been inflicted on them, including by each other. 

In bed, they were silent. Draco kept his arms around Harry, who’s head was weighing down on his pale chest. Neither of them were going to sleep tonight and they knew it. While they were awake, Draco figured he should at least ask. But before he could turn Harry’s head up towards him, he spoke against his torso.

“It’s so hard. If I come home then I just end up waking you and Ron up, screaming. But if I stay at work then I can’t get through the atrium to come home without having a fit.” 

Draco ran his hands through Harry’s soft hair as he talked. “Have you thought more about what we talked about?”

Draco had suggested that Harry quit; that he left to do something that he loved and that didn’t bring back the terror of all the years he was doing the same job without being paid. The Senior Auror position was better. More paperwork. And yet there always seemed to be something written in one of the reports that Draco could tell shook Harry. 

Harry’s warm breath created tingles on Draco’s skin. “I’m going to do it.” 

Draco removed Harry from his chest and leaned over him. Their lips molded, tongues colliding creating comfort. Their fingers wandered across the well explored falls and rises. Pressed together they grew warm. 

Draco broke away. “I’m here for you,” he whispered, eyes fixed on Harry’s field green ones. “But no more working late darling. We have to take care of ourselves.”

“I love you,” Harry murmured. 

Draco fell back down against him and the two of them had their first peaceful sleep in a long time. 


End file.
